Pervez Musharraf (Urdu:Parvez Muśarraf; born 11 August 1943) is a Pakistani politician and retired four-star army general who was the 10th President of Pakistan from 2001 until tendering his resignation, to avoid impeachment, in 2008.
Born in Delhi during British Raj, Musharraf was raised in Karachi and Istanbul. He went on to study mathematics at the Forman Christian College in Lahore and would later study at the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1991. Musharraf entered the Pakistan Military Academy in 1961 and was commissioned in the Pakistan Army in 1964 and went on to play an active role in the Afghan civil war.[4] Musharraf saw action in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 as a second lieutenant; by the 1980s, Musharraf was commanding an artillery brigade. In the 1990s, he was promoted to major general and assigned an infantry division, and later commanded the Special Services Group. Later he served as deputy military secretary and the director general of military operation.[5]
Musharraf rose to national prominence when he was elevated to a four-star general, appointed by then-Prime Minister Sharif in October 1998, making Musharraf the head of the armed forces. He led the Kargil infiltration that almost brought India and Pakistan to a full-fledged war in 1999.[6] After months of contentious relations with Prime Minister Sharif, Sharif unsuccessfully attempted to remove Musharraf from the army's leadership. In retaliation, the army staged a coup d'état in 1999 which allowed Musharraf to take-over Pakistan and subsequently placed Prime Minister Sharif under a strict house-arrest before moving towards a trial against Sharif in Adiala Prison
Musharraf became the head of the military government while remaining the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in 2001 and the Chief of the Army Staff. Although, Musharraf relinquished the position of Chairman of Joint Chiefs in 2001, he remained the Army Chief until retiring from the army in 2007.[8] He became the President of Pakistan on 20 June 2001, only to win a controversial referendum on 1 May 2002 which awarded him five years of presidency.[9] In October the same year, he oversaw a general election in which the army-backed PML-Q was successful.
During his presidency, he advocated for a third way for varying synthesis of conservatism and left-wing ideas, he appointed Shaukat Aziz in place of Sharif and directed policies against terrorism, becoming a key player in the American-led war on terror.[6] Over the next several years, Musharraf survived a number of assassination attempts. He reinstated the constitution in 2002, though it was heavily amended with the Legal Framework Order. He also saw a process of social liberalism under his enlightened moderation program, while also promoting economic liberalisation and banning trade unions.[10] He oversaw a rise of in overall gross domestic product at around 50%, however domestic savings declined and saw a rapid rise in economic inequality. Musharraf's government has also been accused of human rights abuses.